Wagner officially quits on the special election in SD-28, Governor Corbett enters the year flush with cash and incumbent congressmen have a big week kicking off their campaigns. See who else made this week’s Ups & Downs.

Tom Corbett. The Governor started 2014 with a healthy campaign bank account thanks to the $6.8 million he raised in 2013. He has $7.5 million on hand, and no signs of a financially draining primary. He’s also (finally) learning the budget messaging game, with timely early leaks that he will boost education spending and funding for domestic violence and rape crisis programs.

Scott Wagner. The conservative State Senate candidate for Pennsylvania’s 28th District, has announced that he is dropping out of the special election that will take place for Rep. Mike Waugh’s (R-York) seat.The special election was triggered by Waugh’s early resignation to take a job with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Wagner will run in the Republican primary, but instead of an open seat, now he’s looking at running against an incumbent.

Ryan Costello. The Republican Chester County Commissioner now stands alone in the prospective GOP field to replace retiring Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Chester). In the days following Gerlach’s retirement, there were half of a dozen names thrown out on the Republican side, from State Senator John Rafferty to former Senate candidate Sam Rohrer. Over the following two weeks, everyone but Costello dropped out and it looks like the Republican party of SEPA has coalesced around his run.

The Third Way. The group lost Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz as its honorary co-chair on Thursday. The centrist think tank earned a bad rap with progressives and now it’s lost a board member. Progressives have already lauded Schwartz for leaving, which doesn’t paint Third Way in such a kind light.

Incumbent Congressmen. Even though Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Chester) is retiring at the end of this term, his fellow incumbents are coming out strong in their re-election bids. Reps. Shuster (Blair) and Thompson (R-Centre) went on bus tours this week to promote their campaigns. Rep. Barletta kicked his reelection campaign off without a bus, but still held meetings with constituents and business owners. Shuster faces a primary challenger, but the other two remain unopposed.

Tweet of the Week comes from Field Director, PA Family Institute, Brandon McGinley when he succinctly stated what someone should have told Mike Huckabee before this week.

Word politicians should never use: “libido”

— Brandon McGinley (@brandonmcg) January 23, 2014